BT Sport will broadcast a special edition of its Saturday morning football show Early Kick-Off on Saturday (28 March), amid the continued suspension of all professional leagues in the UK due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 90-minute programme will be presented by Jake Humphrey, with contributions from BT Sport’s regular pundits including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch and Robbie Savage, all of whom will be based in their homes.
Due to the UK’s current lockdown rules, the show is being put together remotely, with broadcasting equipment being set up and installed in the crew members and on-air team’s houses.
The programme is being made by Sunset+Vine, producers of BT Sport’s Premier League coverage, whose Scottish arm have already produced a similar show for BT – Scottish Football Extra: From Home – a half-hour show which is being shown on Friday evenings.
Featuring topical discussion and debate, the first edition of BT’s Early Kick-Off specials will also include a Joe Cole skills masterclass and an interview with Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana.
There will also be extended highlights of a classic match from the BT Sport football archives – the first of which will be a classic nine-goal thriller from 2016 between Norwich City and Liverpool, in which Lallana scored the winner deep into injury time.
Early Kick-off launched on BT Sport at the beginning of the 2019/20 season when the broadcaster reverted to the lunchtime kick-off for its live Premier League coverage.
Further special editions of Early Kick-Off, as well as Scottish Football Extra, will be produced in a similar fashion over the coming weeks, as BT Sport looks to fill some of its schedules with new programming during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
For a full overview of all major UK-televised sporting events that have been postponed, cancelled or rescheduled, as well as those which are still due to be staged, visit SOTB’s dedicated coronavirus webpage – sotb.in/coronavirus.
Watch Early Kick-Off live on BT Sport 1 from 12pm on Saturday, 28 March
So, here is how we will broadcast TV to you, despite the lockdown…not a single person leaving their home, no-one with 2 metres of me, and all using the 4G network. There are some clever people out there. 👍🏻❤️ pic.twitter.com/FoePpk3om7
— Jake Humphrey (@mrjakehumphrey) March 26, 2020
